Following the deposit of the instrument of ratification by Austria, the Protocol to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court on provisional application (PPA) enters into force with effect from 19 January 2022.
Following the deposit of the instrument of ratification by Austria, the Protocol to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court on provisional application (PPA) enters into force with effect from 19 January 2022.
This ratification starts the Provisional Application Period (PAP) and the birth of the Unified Patent Court as an organization. The preparatory work, such as the recruitment of judges, in establishing the Unified Patent Court will be conducted during the PAP; it is expected that the new Unified Patent System will become operational before the end of the year.
The European Patent Office is expected to introduce transitional measures with a view to supporting patent applicants in their uptake of the Unitary Patent. The Unitary Patent system is intended to make protection of inventions in Europe more cost effective (especially litigation costs) since it will be possible to obtain uniform patent protection in up to 25 EU Member States by submitting a single request to the European Patent Office.
Cleveland Scott York will be preparing a detailed analysis explaining the implications for applicants in the near future.